Handing out region championship predictions

The non-region basketball season is in the books, as region play opens Friday night.

So the question is, have we learned anything that we didn't expect in the preseason?

The two biggest surprises so far have been the girls' teams from Abbeville and T.L. Hanna.

Most of the other perceived region favorites have largely played the way most expected. Both D.W. Daniel teams have played well against above average competition, especially for the boys at the Beach Ball Classic.

Two weeks ago, the Abbeville girls matched their win total from last year (three), as they look far from the team that's missed the playoffs the last three seasons. It's a similar turnaround to Hanna, which has already more than doubled last year's win total.

But with the Pickens girls' play at the Pepsi Holiday Invitational, my money's on them giving Daniel a strong push for Western AAA supremacy. Sure, Seneca shouldn't be overlooked, but the Lady Cats are too young to be expected to win the region title.

Those two Beach Ball losses haven't diminished the widespread expectations that the Daniel boys should win Western AAA. The only possible speed bumps could be at Woodmont, or an outside shot of a rivalry upset from Seneca.

If there was any doubt of Abbeville contending for another Skyline boys title, the Panthers eliminated those thoughts with another undefeated start, including a Bearcat Classic championship win over Greenwood at Lander University last month.

The race for second in the Skyline appears more interesting as Pendleton has the athleticism to be in the mix, while Walhalla once again has plenty of perimeter shooters.

In Region 1-AAAA, Hanna has proven enough to be the favorite to win the girls title in a region which has seen plenty of parity for most of the last decade. Greenwood, Westside, Wren and Laurens have all won at least one title since the 2004-05 season.

There's always a possibility of a road upset, but I don't see this Hanna team losing twice, and losing the tiebreaker.

Since Hanna's dominant run from 2003-05, when they Yellow Jackets went 27-3, the boys in Region 1-AAAA have also seen a cycle of parity. Easley won two straight in '06 and '07, but Wren and Westside are the last two winners. And given the play of Hanna so far, it looks to be difficult for Westside to repeat.

The big story, though, is Easley's 10-3 start. The Green Wave even had an 18-point lead on Daniel, before the Lions came back to win 68-62 on Tuesday.

So now, for your bulletin board pleasure, here are my region champion predictions: The Hanna girls, and the Easley boys will win Region 1-AAAA. It'll be a Daniel sweep in Western AAA. And in the Skyline, the Abbeville boys will repeat, while the Walhalla girls will knock off tough challenges from Pendleton and Abbeville.